Josef Jedlička

“The name didn´t mean anything to me, I was from the Carpathian Russia. We were not told anything about the (brothers) Čapeks. First after the war I heard something about him. He himself said that he was Čapek from Bohemia. We met. But it was not possible to talk too much there, they were punishing it hardly.”

“Look, you were moving between the wagons. If I piss or not, nobody knows. I didn´t carry water with me. Just a little water was enough and it was already forcing out the oil. Everything went from the West, from the Ruhr land over Hannover to the front. What losses there were then on the front, when everywhere on the wagons it was written: Richtung Warschau. They were heading to Warsaw, it means to the East. Most of it went to Stalingrad and to that region.”

“I worked at the railway. I was sent to Kassel. There we were building railways. I fled from there, but they caught me, so they sent me to Hannover. There I worked as a shunter. At the railway it is possible to do various things. We wore uniforms. More and more soldiers were being sent (to the front). Friends at the railway and at the shunting were very interested, how it would turn out at the East front. I said: ´Napoleon didn´t end well there, due to frosts.´ I was afraid to say something…”

“(Whom did I know there? There must have been more of you, or did you do it by yourself?) [the sabotages in Hannover] No, that is why so many people perished in Bohemia, that our young man was showing off. You know how they came out of it near Kladno. Lidice. There the boy was also showing off and prided himself. (…) Oiling of axles. Mostly you have wagons, what is turning, has got axles. There are either bearing or normal axles. The older types were greased by oil. It was dropped onto the grease boxes which were then screwed up or clapped. Oil was put there. After certain number of kilometres somebody came with a can and poured oil. The worst were French wagons, the most modern ones were ours. (…) They had bearings and vaseline was pushed in there. Where there was oil, when you pissed or poured water there, so water is heavier and it forced the oil out of the axle. After a few kilometres the bearing jammed and burned. In Hannover they were producing new tanks.”